New Projects

I have wanted to make myself a quilted yoga mat for quite some time.  I've also been accumulating a bunch of orphaned blocks that were either extras or unsatisfactory cast offs from other projects.  Let's see what happens when I combine the two!

The pieces are all thrown up on the wall while I decide just what I want this yoga mat to look like.  Then I'll still need to work out how much batting I want to put in it, and how it will all go together.

I'm also researching how to make a floppy sun hat.  I met a woman last spring that had an awesome scrappy sun hat that was was assembled similar to a rope coil bowl, except there was no rope.  It was simply strips of fabric.  I regret that I failed to take a photo of it; I can only go by my vague memory of how it looked.  

And of course there are some new throw/baby quilts on the horizon.  Whew!

Sharing with:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict - Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
Wendy's Quilts and More - Peacock Party

I Like Thursday: September's Summary

Ooh - what a September!  I have lots to share with Lee Anna and friends at I Like Thursday.

Kicked off the month by catching up with old friends and co-workers.  I started my first programming job with these guys.  Two of them were new hires with me.  The third guys I jokingly call my work husband - we've been working together for more than 30 years.  Nuts!

My tall friend moved to Japan years ago - I haven't seen him since 2003.  He was in the states for a few weeks, so we took this opportunity to all get together.  I'm so glad we made this work.

Rounded Bowl Cozies

A request for bowl cozies piqued my interest because it was for a rectangle container rather than a round bowl.  The timing was good, too - having finished my latest quilt I change gears to work my clean-up projects.  It was a good time to jump into this.

I dug up my original bowl cozy pattern (from a tutorial here).  Then I adjusted it by rounding the corners and moving the darts to accommodate a 5x7" bowl.

These cozies ended up a bit flatter than I imagined, but even my original bowl cozies aren't that deep.  I started with an 11" square, then rounded two corners with 4" and 2" curved rulers.  No bulky sharp corners to turn out!

Scenes From Cape Cod

Cape Cod Chick Weekend was a couple of weeks ago.  We stayed in a new place near Thumpertown beach, just a little south of Campground beach in Eastham.  We arrived to hot humid weather.  Then stormy weather blew through on Sunday and Tuesday.

We walked to the beach on Sunday to watch the weather as it rolled across the bay.  I wanted to walk on the beach before the tide came in.  I thought the dark clouds looked amazing from down on the beach as they moved across Brewster and Orleans.

I Like Thursday: The Best of August

I'm kind of liking this month-at-a-time review for I Like Thursday - I may stick with this format going forward.

I like that I made it to Family Weekend this year.  Heading to the Cape was an adventure.

I picked Mom up at the commuter train station in Waltham.  Rob was tracking my phone and was highly entertained by my wrong turns getting to the train station and then my inability to get back on 128.  All 'round Robin Hood's barn!

Confetti and Streamers

Huzzah!  I got the baby quilt done in time for Family Weekend.  Well, finished at Family Weekend.  I wrapped up the binding and buried the last quilting threads down on the Cape less than four hours before the festivities began.  Luck was with me - I had sunshine, nearly no breeze and some excellent places to photograph at the cottage.

I held onto the quilt long enough to confirm I got good photos and then gifted it on Sunday.  Whew!

The quilt pattern is called Woven Jewelbox.  I wanted the throw quilt design as a baby quilt size.  So I cut my strips just shy of two inches wide, which resulted in a quilt roughly 40x50 inches.  The diamonds are about 11 inches tall.

Striped Backing and Zigzag Quilting

It took a while to piece the backing for this quilt.  I had put together the diamonds in tumbling blocks format, which I really liked.  However, I didn't have enough fabric to surround it properly.  I then rearranged them into a vertical stripe.  Not bad.  I was able to use the big chunk of blue fabric as well as some of the grey and off white.  The little bit of dark gold that didn't work at all in the front fit nicely on the back.

Spotty, Ghost and Dogfights

 

I was working in the kitchen when I caught sight of a deer in the front yard.  I saw a flash of white and thought it was a dog, but I wondered why the deer was so calm.  When it came into view from around the bush I realized it was a fawn:  mostly white, with some brown spots.  What a surprise!

As I watched, a second fawn appeared, even more white than the first one with a light brown face.  I've never seen anything like these two.  Obviously twins, although one was noticeably larger than the other.